The Devil and Hell Week
by enthusiasmgirl
Summary: In which Foggy wants to pledge a fraternity and is willing to go insane lengths to prove his loyalty, Matt just wants to show them up, and Matt and Foggy become brothers.
1. Rush Party

Matt closed his textbook and groaned in pain at the smells and sounds that suddenly assaulted him from the dorm hallway, frustrated with what he knew they meant. A pungent odor of spicy cheese sauce melted over chili fries accompanied by a cheerful whistling meant that Foggy was heading back to their room in a celebratory mood.

Sure enough, moments later his roommate burst through the door jovially, saying hello before resuming his melody.

Matt was hoping that his return would be quick, that maybe Foggy only needed to pick something up before heading back out. And sure enough, he heard the sounds of searching through dresser drawers. Then, when he couldn't find what he needed, Matt realized that Foggy was on his hands and knees rifling for something underneath his bed.

He expected Foggy to leave again when he found whatever it was, and was surprised when Foggy turned towards him and said "So, you're gonna love me!"

"Oh?" Matt asked. "Why's that?"

"Because I managed to score us both invites to the Beta Kappa Epsilon rush party tonight!" Foggy told him. Matt didn't have to be able to see to know that the other man was grinning as he said it.

"A rush party?" Matt said. "Really? Foggy, I can't. I have to study."

"What?" Foggy asked, incredulously. "Matt, come on! We're in college. It's not supposed to be all studying. You need to get out there! Meet new people, network, soak in the campus life. Did I ever tell you that my dad was a Beta?"

"Why does that not surprise me?" Matt asked. Of course Foggy's father was an alumni of their school and was in a fraternity. Matt knew that Foggy's family had money and were well-educated. It showed in the way Foggy carried himself. The lack of seriousness he had about his studies despite his intelligence, the constant complaining when the care packages his family sent didn't contain something crucial like toothpaste, and the softness and expensiveness of the clothing that he frequently forgot to pick up off of the dorm room floor. It was one of the reasons for Matt's constant frustration with the stranger the college had chosen for him to be stuck with. That and the snoring. Mostly the snoring though, really. Lack of sleep led to increased irritability.

"He held the office of treasurer," Foggy said. "You know, he actually met my mom at a frat party. I'm a legacy, which I figure makes me a shoe-in."

"You're going to pledge?" Matt asked, curious.

"Hell yeah! I'm a Nelson," Foggy told him. "Being a Beta is in my blood. I have to. That's why I want you to come. If you pledge too, then we can still live together. Not only that, we'd be brothers!"

Matt was startled by that idea. It never occurred to him that Foggy enjoyed his company all that much. "I doubt that the frat is looking for a blind pledge, Foggy."

Foggy made a noise like that wasn't something even worth consideration. "Why wouldn't they want you? You're funny, smart, good-looking, the girls all flock to you. Plus, I hate to say it but they would probably go really easy on you if you pledged. C'mon, Matt. Please, please, please! I need a proper wing-man to help me look good at the party."

Matt thought about it for a moment. On the one hand, he hadn't been to a college party yet and he was certain he would hate it. He didn't drink. He knew his blindness made other people feel uncomfortable. And drunk people were obnoxious.

On the other hand, if he could help Foggy convince the Betas to let him pledge, he might be able to finally get a good night's sleep. Maybe he could even convince the university not to replace his roommate and to let him live alone.

"One party," Matt told Foggy. "That's it. I'm not pledging. But you're right. You're only in college once, right?"

"That's the spirit!" Foggy said.

* * *

Matt could hear the Betas' party long before he became a part of it, the sounds of drunken revelry and loud music assaulting his ear drums from the other side of the campus. It was almost enough to make him turn back. But then he envisioned a solitary, quiet dorm room that didn't smell like beer and Funyons and used that fantasy to force his legs forward, stumbling slightly to keep up with Foggy's insistent tugging on his arm.

He nearly tripped when Foggy yanked him hard up the front steps of the fraternity house in his excitement, momentum pulling him slightly forward as they stopped abruptly.

"Wow," Foggy said. "Oh man, Matt. I know you can't see it, but the women here are so hot. This could be the first night of the rest of our lives!"

"I'm not pledging, Foggy," Matt said.

"I know, but just think about it." Foggy said. "Our future wives could be in this crowd."

And a crowd it was. The house was bursting with people and Matt knew that once they were inside it would be difficult for him to navigate, his senses struggling to make sense of so many individual people's body heat and heartbeats in such an enclosed space. Already, he was feeling claustrophobic and they were still only standing on the porch.

A man approached them, and Matt heard Foggy's heartbeat quicken.

"Franklin Nelson," the voice said, and it didn't sound happy. "You're here. We didn't know if you would come or not."

"Well, why wouldn't I?" Foggy asked.

"Right," the man said. "Why wouldn't you?" Matt imagined that they were thinking of a dozen reasons from the sound of it, but Foggy was oblivious as usual.

"You brought a friend," the man said, and Matt dreaded the introduction he knew was coming.

"I did!" Foggy said. "Matt, this is Tom Avery, the fraternity president. Tom, this is Matt Murdock."

Tom held his hand out expecting Matt to shake it, a common mistake. Unlike in most cases, however, Matt didn't acknowledge the gesture in any way, preferring to allow Tom to look like an ass and have to wallow in it.

"Ummmm..." Tom asked, "Franklin, is it really a good idea for your friend to come inside? I worry that his cane will cause problems. It's pretty crowded."

Well, now Matt had to enter the house.

"I'll be fine," he said, flashing a smile. "Someone will just have to direct me to the keg." Not that he intended to drink. But he was very good at pretending.

"Right," Tom said. "Well, I suppose I'll see you inside then."

He disappeared into the house, and there were so many people that Matt couldn't determine where he went or what he said to the next person he saw. He assumed it wasn't polite or meant to be overheard.

"Let's do this!" Foggy said. Matt imagined that Foggy was grinning. This was going to be awful.

* * *

Matt stood awkwardly in the kitchen leaning against the counter, a half dozen women surrounding him. They were all clearly attracted to him, and Matt acknowledged their interest with a few self-deprecating jokes and a smile. Most of them were only attracted to him out of pity, Matt knew. He disliked it even if he understood it. In fact, he figured it was natural for the women at the party to find him more worthy of their attention than the drunken antics of the idiots around him. He could hear Foggy's obnoxious laughter in the next room, and his sputtering as he tried and failed to drink from a beer bong without embarrassing himself. Why did he do this, again? Clearly there was no stopping Foggy from making a fool of himself.

He was in the middle of fending off the advances of the drunkest woman in his vicinity, who just so happened to trip and fall on him with her hands splayed out in front of her and his chest catching her fall, when Tom decided to make his presence felt. "Joanna!" Matt heard, and the woman groping him was violently yanked away. "What the hell?" Tom asked.

"We were just talking," Matt explained.

"Right," Tom said. "I'm sure. You know, ladies, Doug is about to do a keg stand in the living room and he was just complaining that he needs an audience to really cheer him on to go for the record."

The women begrudgingly left. "Where's your friend?" Tom asked.

"Enjoying himself more than I am, I'm sure," Matt said. "He's really excited to pledge."

"Seems like it," Tom said.

"Foggy's a great guy," Matt said, deciding that he may as well do what he set out to do in being there. "Loyal, and incredibly intelligent. You would be lucky to have him in your fraternity."

"We'll see," Tom said, and Matt really didn't like his tone. "You know you don't have to stick around if you're not having fun."

"I'm having a great time," Matt said.

"You look like you're having a blast," Tom said sarcastically.

"Where's the bathroom?" Matt asked, picking up his cane.

"Upstairs. First door on the left. Should I get your friend to help you find it?" Tom asked, not being as polite as he thought.

"No, I'm fine, thank you." Matt excused himself.

He made his way through the throng of people and up the stairs, jostled on all sides but easily able to find the long line for the bathroom. He waited patiently and tried not to overhear the sounds of sloppy, awkward sexual encounters coming from behind the other doors around him. Instead, he decided to focus on other conversations, snippets of drunken rambling, heated arguments and whispered gossip.

"and she totally made out with Jeff, can you believe it? Oh my God, right?" a woman was saying.

"Dude. Duuuuuude. DUDE! Watch me, dude. Just watch me," someone was demanding.

Someone else had decided that they couldn't wait for the bathroom to be available and was vomiting in one of the bedrooms. Matt choked down the smell.

"...a blind guy," Matt heard, and his ears perked up almost without him wanting them to. Someone was talking about him. "Who does that? Seriously, what kind of frat does he think this is? I mean, we're not actually considering fatty and the cripple, are we?"

"I don't know," another man's voice said, "Nelson is a legacy. And couldn't we get in trouble if the blind guy pledges and we tell him no? He could bust us for discrimination or something, couldn't he?"

"He's not going to pledge," another voice, Tom's, said. "You should see him down there, stealing all our chicks and then acting like he's better than us. Sure, guy, keep thinking that and accepting the women's pity like it means they're actually into you. He's only here for the free booze and because his roommate dragged him along, you can tell."

"But if he does pledge? We kinda have to let him in, don't we? We can't possibly make him pledge like everyone else. That wouldn't be fair," the first voice said. "If people saw a blind guy being humiliated around campus we'd get in so much trouble."

"I told you, he's not going to pledge so don't worry about it," said Tom. "But Nelson, though. That guy needs to be taught a lesson. Just because his daddy was once a brother doesn't mean he's earned it. What a joke."

"What are you gonna do to him, Tommy?" another asked.

"You'll see," Tom replied. "It's gonna be epic. No way he'll still want in when we finish with him."

Matt's fists clenched as he finally entered the bathroom for his turn. Who the hell did the Betas' think they were? Well, he may not be Foggy's best friend, but he certainly wasn't going to let him be insulted and degraded by a bunch of assholes. And letting them believe that he was some poor blind man who needed them to go easy on him or who accepted pity wasn't an option either.

The Betas were going down.


	2. Magoo & Puke

"I'm so excited, I'm so excited!" Foggy said as he threw himself down onto the bed in their room the next afternoon. "They accepted out bids! Oh, Matt, this is going to be amazing. Thank you so much for doing this with me. You won't regret it, I promise."

"You may not want to promise that, Foggy," Matt said resignedly. He'd tried to talk Foggy out of pledging the night before, but he'd been too late. Foggy had put his bid in the the moment he'd had the opportunity to.

"It's true though," Foggy said. "My dad has told me so many stories about being a Beta. The camping trips. The girls. The friends he made. The girls."

Matt chuckled. "Just because your dad liked being a Beta doesn't mean you will, Foggy. Have you thought about what it will be like if you don't get in? Are you really willing to subject yourself to being humiliated for the chance to be in a frat? They didn't seem all that great to me."

"Great enough that you changed your mind about pledging," Foggy said. "Don't think I didn't see you surrounded by beautiful women in the kitchen letting them paw at you last night. Why are you so set on this being a terrible idea?"

"I'm not," Matt told him. "I just..." Why did he care so much? Foggy was a grown man. He could handle himself, right? "I'm nervous," he lied.

Foggy continued to imagine potential futures for them in which they and their frat brothers sang acapella songs and toasted each other at their weddings, which Matt actually found himself smiling at even knowing how misguided the fantasies were. Meanwhile, Matt contemplated the best ways to make the Betas understand exactly who they were messing with and regret ever underestimating him.

* * *

The first pledge event was milder than Matt was expecting, but certainly set the tone.

He and Foggy were instructed to show up to the frat house at 8pm that evening. When they got there, the house seemed empty, with the other pledges in their class milling around, confused. Matt knew that the brothers were all in the basement of the house, preparing whatever trial or ritual was traditionally conducted with new pledges. But nobody else knew, and so Matt tried to look similarly befuddled.

Finally, a brother appeared.

"Alright, pledges, listen up!" he yelled. "I'm Vince, but as far as you worms are concerned for the next week I'm sir, and so are all the other brothers. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" they all said back in unison, all of them ready and prepared to do whatever was asked of them to be a part of whatever was about to happen.

"Excellent," Vince told them. "Now Luke is passing around blindfolds. You're all going to strip down to your underwear, then put them on and make your way downstairs. Sound good?"

"Yes, sir," they all yelled again. How they were all supposed to make it down a flight of stairs while blindfolded was not explained, but Matt wasn't worried in the slightest about that part in his case.

The brother distributing the blindfolds, Luke, stopped in front of Matt, hesitant. "Ummm..." he said, unsure what to do. Matt took the blindfold from him and put it on, folding his glasses and tucking them carefully into his pants pocket before stripping down as requested. He leaned his cane against the wall next to his clothing. Once ready, he reached out to find Foggy's arm, guiding him over towards himself and not letting go.

"Are you alright?" he asked Foggy.

"Yeah," said Foggy, but Matt could tell he was nervous. "I guess you're doing just fine too, huh?"

Matt chuckled. "Yeah, I'm good. Don't you worry about me."

They made their way downstairs, with some of the other pledges stumbling and all of them except Matt clutching onto the railing for dear life. They were asked to stand in a line and told to do jumping jacks, stopping only to step forward when their name was called.

Matt knew, again, that he would be fine. He was in great shape. His training saw to that. But Foggy, on the other hand, was sweating and panting within the first few jumps.

The first pledge's name was called. Eric Davis. He stepped forward, relieved to be able to stop exercising, but breathless and shaking. The crowd, easily 30 men, surrounded him. It was a clear attempt to physically crowd and intimidate with their presence, and Matt knew it was working.

"Why do you want to be a Beta?" they asked the focus of their attention.

Eric answered. He thought that they were the coolest guys on campus and wanted to be a part of their brotherhood. He wanted them to make him a better man.

They mocked him. "What makes you think you're strong enough? You look like a strong wind could blow you over!" they told him. "You know, I bet you've never even kissed a girl before. You're not queer, are you?"

Finally, Tom stepped forward. "You know, I think that Eric's nickname should be Psycho. Because he looks Norman Bates. You don't have your mommy's bones hidden in your dorm room, do you Psycho?" The crowd chanted the nickname.

"Let's help you remember your new name," Tom said, and Matt heard a rustling. They were clasping a collar shut around his neck, presumably with a name-tag hanging down announcing the new moniker to the world. "And make sure you use it from now on."

He was then shoved towards a wall and instructed to get onto all fours with his ass in the air and listen while the ritual continued.

Matt kept jumping, focused on controlling his breathing, and listened to several other pledges step forward and get the same treatment. Be mocked and insulted, then renamed and told to accept it like a gift. Next to him, Foggy was slowly turning into a wheezing, panting mess, his sweat puddling underneath him on the basement floor.

Matt's name was called. He stepped forward. and immediately could sense a dozen of the brothers closing in on him, practically breathing down his neck. He calmed himself, put his hands behind his back, and waited for whatever was coming next.

"Matthew," Tom said, "why do you want to be a Beta?"

"I think it would be a good opportunity for me to make new friends, meet women, and get the full college experience," he said.

"Really?" Tom said. "You know, the other brothers were hesitant to accept your bid. I mean, we've never had a disabled brother before. It could be quite the burden on us, having to look out for you, you know? I mean, I know you can't see yourself, but you must know that it's embarrassing to watch you stumble around with your arms out in front of you, tripping over things like Mr. Magoo. What makes you think you're worth all that trouble?"

Matt seethed, but he'd been expecting something like this to happen. "You're right that I can't know what you see when you look at me, but I know that I get around just fine. And the ladies certainly like me. Besides, you know as well as I do that it looks better on you to accept me than reject me. After all, diversity is important."

"It certainly is," Tom said. "But you wouldn't want to be some sort of affirmative action brother, would you? Take the spot of someone more deserving than you just because you walk with that cane and wear those glasses? That wouldn't be fair."

"No, it wouldn't be," Matt said.

"Good," said Tom. "Because if you thought you could just waltz in here and that we would go easy on you, that you were somehow deserving of special treatment, you were wrong. If you want to be a Beta, you've got to earn it. Is that clear?"

"It is," Matt replied.

"Alright," Tom said. "This will be fun, then. Magoo."

The crowd chanted "Magoo!" at him and Matt realized that it was what he would be answering to until he could find a way to humiliate the brothers and convince Foggy to give up on pledging. He sighed and grunted as he was shoved over to the wall. "I don't get a name-tag?" he asked, confused.

"No," said Tom. "People already think you're a joke when they look at you, so we didn't really feel comfortable adding to your misery on that front. But trust me, you'll still have plenty of chances to prove your loyalty before this is over."

Matt seethed inside, but stayed where he was, thinking about all the ways that the Betas were going to get what was coming to them.

Behind him, Foggy's breathing was becoming raspy and desperate.

Matt expected Foggy to be called next. But he wasn't. In fact, they saved him for last, and Matt suspected it was done on purpose. By the time Foggy's name was called, he couldn't even step forward without collapsing at their feet.

"Stand up!" Tom said. "What the hell is wrong with you, Nelson?"

Foggy couldn't stand. The brothers dragged him up by his elbows.

Tom chuckled. "Why do you want to be a Beta, Nelson?"

"Because..." Foggy gasped out. His explanation was cut off when he projectile vomited without warning all over Tom's legs.

"Oh," Foggy said. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Shit." He was still struggling to catch his breath.

Matt couldn't help but smile, even though the smell of Foggy's vomit was vile, like old cheese and spicy sausage. He immediately felt bad for enjoying Tom's misery, though. Poor Foggy.

"Christ, Nelson. You're pathetic. What would your old man say if he could see you here, spewing your guts all over us. I bet even he'd reject you," Tom said. The other brothers were nearly doubled over laughing and there were cries of "Disgusting!" and "Nasty".

Of course, Foggy's nickname was Puke. Tom left to have a shower, but promised that he would be sure to leave his pants for Foggy to hand wash later in the evening, and that he would also be taking a toothbrush to the basement floor.

And the brothers still subjected him to the same paddling and further humiliations that all of the other pledges received. The rest of the night was just as unpleasant, and it ended with the promise from the brothers that the events planned for the rest of the week were going to be worse.

Matt resolved to get his revenge quickly and get Foggy the hell out of this. If things really did escalate, pledging might just kill him.

* * *

"I can't believe they did that to you!" Foggy said, groaning from his bed in their room the next morning. They were both exhausted, having not gotten back to the dorm until well into the morning.

"To me?" Matt asked. "Foggy, they nicknamed you Puke. Because they made you puke."

"Well, yeah," Foggy said. "And it was humiliating. But all that stuff about your disability crossed a line. Telling you that you have to memorize the frat's history and the songbook knowing that you can't read any of the materials is just wrong. They're setting you up to fail. That's not fair."

"I think that's the entire point, Foggy," Matt said. "They're clearly uncomfortable that I pledged."

"Which is ridiculous! I don't get it! What does it matter that you can't see?" Foggy said. "Being in a frat is supposed to be about the content of your character. It's supposed to be about helping you to become a better person. At least that's what my dad used to always say."

Matt sighed. "It's fine, Foggy."

"How is it fine? We should go to Student Disability Services and register a complaint," Foggy suggested. "Then, they'd have to take you seriously."

"I can't force them to respect me, Foggy," Matt said. "That's not how it works. Complaining and asking to be treated differently because of my disability is exactly what they want me to do."

"But they're the ones treating you differently!" Foggy said.

"I'm fine, Foggy." Matt replied.

Let me help you, then," Foggy said. "They gave me the same books they gave you. We both have to learn it anyway. I don't mind reading out loud. We'll study together. As I read out loud, maybe you can transcribe it into your computer or something to help you memorize it later?"

"Or we could just forget the whole thing." Matt said. "Why would you want to be a part of a club that would do a thing like that, anyway?"

"Why would you?" Foggy asked. "I'll tell you why. Because being in a frat creates bonds and friendships that you carry with you for the rest of your life, that's why! Do you think that they're just doing this to us to get their rocks off, Matt? No! It's a test of our loyalty, of how far we're willing to go for them so that when the time comes, we can trust that they'll go that far for us. My godfather was a Beta with my dad, Matt. When my dad started out as an investment banker, all of his early clients were Betas, and they helped him network and build his reputation. Imagine having friends like that, people willing to stand up for you and go to bat for you and support you no matter what. That's what a fraternity is. That's what brotherhood is. That's what I was going to say when they asked me why I wanted to be a Beta. Before my speech accidentally came out in solid form all over Tom, oh God, what is wrong with me?" Foggy groaned and muffled it with a pillow.

"I thought it was funny," Matt said, trying to be helpful, laughing a bit.

Foggy sighed, before chuckling to himself. "Yeah, I guess it could just end up being one of those stories that the frat tells someday. Hey, remember when Nelson puked on his first day as a pledge? Maybe someday I'll be telling it to my kid the way my dad tells his stories to me. Do you know he and his friend Marty once put a dead fish in the school mascot's uniform before a football game?"

"Why would they do that?" Matt asked.

"Okay, so here's what happened..." Foggy started, and he proceeded to tell a long, involved story that had Matt in stitches by the end. And then another story. And another. And soon, they were hunched over the frat's history and songbook hard at work trying to prevent future embarrassment and preparing for that night's adventure.


	3. Panty Raid

The second day of pledging was very similar to the first, only more intense. More name calling. More paddling. More exercise. All while made to recite the history of the fraternity from memory and sing its songs. Only this time, they didn't even get to keep their boxers on, and their bodies were on display for everyone to see. It was the rare time when Matt was grateful for his lack of sight.

The brothers played a drinking game that involved drinking when each pledge did something in particular, designed to make them self-conscious and the object of further ridicule, and their slurred insults as the night wore on became harsher and harsher.

Once again, Foggy was singled out for particularly cruel taunts. Matt cringed as he heard Foggy cry out while being paddled, sensed his tears in the air as he let them call him "fat-ass", "disgusting" and paw at any exposed flab they could find.

Crouched down next to Matt, a quiet pledge who had introduced himself as Steven but now answered to "Puppy" drew blood digging his fingernails into his skin as he tried to stay quiet and accept the punishment.

Matt took it all with what he felt passed for dignity given the circumstances. He withdrew into himself and remembered his training, meditating and allowing himself to drift away as they pinched his scars and used them as evidence of clumsiness, falsely equated his blindness to stupidity or mental defect, and repeatedly asked him to repeat pieces of information that other pledges weren't asked for, demanding he prove his intelligence.

By the end of the night, when they were finally told to get some sleep, the pledges all left the house shaking and disoriented, just wanting to pass out.

* * *

The next morning, Matt woke up furious at himself. So far, the brothers hadn't responded at all to his attempts to prove himself to them. And the kinds of pledge events that they had so far participated in left no room at all to humiliate the fraternity. He needed them to stage a public event, or something complex with room for him to turn it around on them somehow. Otherwise, this entire thing would be pointless.

He wondered if it already was pointless. How much satisfaction would he really get from exacting revenge on a group of people who he had already allowed degrade him so much? Would it really feel good to know that they got theirs, or would he only ever really remember Foggy sobbing while they made him jiggle around for them and tell them how ugly he was? Things were spinning out of control.

"Hey, Foggy," Matt asked from his bed.

"Yeah?" Foggy's voice was hoarse.

"Are you sure you want to keep doing this?" Matt asked him.

"Yeah," Foggy said. "And I'm really glad you're doing it with me, buddy. It's all gonna work out in the end."

Matt didn't know if it would or not. But if Foggy was still in it, he didn't feel like he had a choice but to keep going.

* * *

Thankfully for Matt, the next event was exactly what he had been hoping for. It turned out that the Betas had a rival frat, Sigma Phi Alpha, with a rival sister sorority. And that the Dean's daughter happened to be a member.

"If we embarrass her, we embarrass the frat associated with her and turn the Dean against them," Tom told them. "You boys are going to commit a good, old-fashioned panty raid today."

Foggy and the other pledges cheered out in excitement, while Matt only groaned slightly. Really? Were they all that immature?

"Your assignment is to take this ladder and break into the sorority house, and bring back a pair of panties that are specifically identifiable as hers," Vince instructed. "Ones that she'll recognize when she sees them flying like a flag on the Sigma Phi lawn." Everyone was amused by this idea, except Matt.

"If you fail," Tom said, "then you can expect the rest of the night's activities to be even worse than last nights. If you get caught, this was all your idea and we don't know you. But if you succeed? Then tonight, we party!"

The pledges were left to gather supplies and plan their approach, all of them breathing a sigh of relief at the thought of a potential escape from another night of being broken and beaten. Matt went to join their huddle when he found himself suddenly yanked in the other direction, manhandled until he was facing a small crowd of Betas led by Tom and Vince.

"Where do you think you're going, Magoo?" Tom said.

"I thought we were going on a panty raid?" Matt asked.

"They are," Vince said "but you're not. You'd get their pathetic asses caught for sure. No, we've got something else planned for you tonight. Something extra special."

"I thought you said I wasn't going to get special treatment," Matt asked.

"No, we said you shouldn't ask for it. This is our gift to you," Tom told him.

He was led into the basement again, pulled over towards the wall and shoved onto his hands and knees, which Matt knew meant that they were going to paddle him again. They hadn't removed his clothes though.

"So did Puke help you study for our little test last night?" Tom asked.

"He did," Matt said. "Since I couldn't read the materials you gave me."

"I talked about it with the other brothers, and we all agree that technically that makes you a cheater," Tom told him. "Nobody else got help like that. Do you always copy his work? Do you blow him in return? You must do something to make him not mortified to be seen with you."

Matt didn't say anything. He knew it would be pointless.

"We decided we needed to punish you for cheating. Make sure you really knew your stuff," Tom said. "Since we already know that you can get by okay without sight, we decided to try a different approach."

"Is it true that when you go blind, your other senses get better to compensate?" Vince asked.

Matt still didn't say anything.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. You're gonna start reciting the history of the fraternity just like last night, from the beginning. And if you slip up, we're gonna beat your ass. Only this time, you'll do it without your hearing either."

Matt tried to breathe deep and not panic as earphones were placed over his ears. He winced as loud heavy metal suddenly assaulted his eardrums. Some sort of death metal. The singer was screaming at the top of his lungs. The pain was intense, and everything drifted away for a moment as Matt adjusted until he was brought back to himself by the paddle slamming down on him.

He started reciting.

* * *

It took Matt longer than it should have, almost an entire half hour, to realize that there was nobody in the basement with him.

He stopped his rambling and struggled to focus, to verify that his suspicions were true. But no, they were gone. All of the Betas had left. They were all upstairs going about their usual business, some of them chattering excitedly about the mission they had sent the pledges on.

They must have assumed that without his sight or hearing, he would have no way of knowing he was alone and would continue to humiliate himself and fear their punishment.

He jerked the headphones off, throwing them across the room and taking a moment to readjust to the compared quiet. He was ashamed of himself when he realized that at some point he'd started crying.

He was pleased, though, to remember that his fellow pledges were out currently trying to steal a pair of panties and that he finally had the opportunity he needed to turn the tide.

* * *

As Matt approached the sorority house, without his cane or glasses since they had been left upstairs when he had crawled out of the basement window, he heard Foggy and the other pledges all assembled under a nearby tree discussing how to get their ladder assembled and raised without being noticed by anyone, or whether there was a ground floor entrance that they would be better off using.

He smiled slightly when he heard Foggy say "Shouldn't Matt, sorry Magoo, be here with us, you guys? Aren't you worried about where he went?"

But Foggy's concerns went unnoticed by the others.

While they plotted, Matt slipped by them and examined the opposite side of the house, hearing the dripping of rainwater from a gutter, then feeling it to ensure it was sturdy. He perked his ears up, hearing a female voice coming from the bedroom above him.

"No, daddy, I'm not drinking. This is a dry sorority. You know that. You wouldn't have let me join it if it wasn't," the woman said, identifying her as the Dean's daughter. She was lying. All of the girls were drinking downstairs, a party clearly just beginning. "No, of course there are no boys here tonight." Another lie. Several of the sisters downstairs were pawing at boyfriends. "We're just hanging out and studying."

As she continued her conversation, Matt began to slowly make his way to her bedroom window, using the gutter and siding as leverage and his own strength to pull himself up. Finally, standing on the window ledge, he listened and waited as she finished her conversation and then knocked sharply.

He heard her startle, confused by the noise. He knocked again.

The window opened, and she looked out and didn't see him at first. "Hi there," Matt said, and waved, careful to still hang onto something so he didn't fall.

"Who... are you crazy?" she sputtered. "Do you know who I am?"

"The Dean's daughter, right?" Matt asked. "I'm here to save you."

She sighed and let him into her room, nervous. "It's Jessica, actually," she told him. "I have a name. And if you're going to use some line about being here to save me from boredom or loneliness or something, you have five seconds to get out of my room before I call my dad and you end up expelled."

"Duly noted," Matt said. "But I'm actually here to save you from having your panties stolen by the idiots in Beta Kappa Epsilon. They've sent their pledges to harass and embarrass you and leave your underwear on the Sigma Phi lawn."

"And you found out?" she asked him, curious.

"Well, I'm one of them, if I'm being honest," Matt told her. "I just don't agree with letting an innocent person get caught up in the crosshairs of our stupidity. I wanted to give you a chance to retain your dignity. Since I don't get to have any."

"So your plan was to come here and warn me? Or flirt with me and trick me into giving you what you need?" Jessica asked, unimpressed.

"Actually, my plan was to convince you to help me humiliate the Betas instead," Matt said, and he proceeded to explain to her exactly what he had in mind.

* * *

Matt groaned as he heard glass breaking, a scream and an argument coming from the first floor.

"I'm assuming that would be your friends?" Jessica asked him.

"Apparently, they decided that the back window was their best bet after all," Matt replied.

All of them except for Foggy. He had decided to try for a second floor entrance alone, and they both heard the clunk of the ladder hitting the siding outside the room they were standing in.

"Matt?" Foggy asked, as he awkwardly stuffed himself through the window and fell into the room, landing on his hands and knees next to them. "Ummmm... hello?" he said, waving at Jessica.

She laughed and said hi, waving back. "Decided to break from the pack?" she asked him. It took Foggy a moment to realize what she meant, but when he heard the sounds of chasing and shouting coming from outside the room it dawn on him.

"Oh, man! Those idiots!" Foggy said. "I tried to tell them that there were too many people milling around downstairs. How did you even get in here, Matt?"

"Charm," Jessica said.

"Figures," was Foggy's reply. She giggled again.

"This is Foggy," Matt said, "Foggy, Jessica. I've gotta go," and he left to go stand up for his brothers in arms currently being crowded around and berated while desperately trying to explain themselves.

"Jessica? The Dean's daughter?" Foggy asked, nervous. "I should... I should go too." He pushed past her, but before he could leave she reached into a drawer and pressed something soft and silky into his hand. "Here," she said. "Take it. You look like you could use a win, Puke." She gestured to his collar. "Tell your friend that I'm not that innocent anyway." She winked at him and went to give him an extra push out the door, but before she could, Matt was back.

"So, apparently a couple of the sisters' boyfriends are on the wrestling team," Matt said. "There's no hope for the others, but we can still make it out the way we came."

"Right," Foggy said. "I tried to tell them." The pair crawled out the window and down the ladder. Foggy went to grab it, but Matt yanked him away. "But it has a Property of Beta Kappa Epsilon label on it," Foggy warned him.

"Leave it," Matt said, and they quietly made their way through the night together, Matt slipping back into allowing Foggy to guide him without his cane.

* * *

As they approached the fraternity house, Matt listened carefully. The brothers were still all upstairs. None of them had noticed that he wasn't there.

"I'm gonna sneak back in through the basement window and get back where they left me," Matt told Foggy.

"Yeah, what the hell was that even about? How did you even get to the sorority house without your cane?" Foggy asked him.

"I've been living on campus for a while now," Matt said. "I know my way around."

"Right," Foggy said. "What do I tell them?"

"That I can't help you with, pal," Matt said, and he left.

Foggy sighed, and then wondered why he was so worried. He had the Dean's daughter's panties in his pocket. The other pledges had failed, but he could walk through the front door and take all the glory for himself.

He marched forward, opened the door, and all eyes turned to him. "Well, Puke? How did you do?" Tom asked, coming down the stairs.

"We failed," Foggy said, sadly.

Jessica didn't deserve to have her reputation dragged through the mud as part of some fraternity prank war, innocent or not.


	4. Self-Worth

Foggy didn't regret not turning Jessica' panties over to the Betas. But it cost him, cost all of them, another evening of being made to degrade themselves while being jeered and insulted.

And, once again, the brothers had decided to up the humiliation factor. Foggy could barely find a position to lay in on his twin bed that didn't ache or feel raw, and his scalp itched uncomfortably, a reminder of how the brothers had bent him over and shaved his hair off, leaving only a thin layer of fuzz behind.

He and Matt had each showered twice to try to get all the eggs that had been thrown at them and assorted other foods they had been made to wallow in off, but a gunky, slimy residue still remained.

On the other side of the room, Matt groaned.

"Where did Tom and Vince take you earlier? When we all left to plan the raid?" Foggy asked him, remembering.

"They wanted me to recite the history and sing the songs for them again. With headphones on and music playing. As punishment for cheating and allowing you to help me," Matt told him.

Foggy sighed. "Well, what else were you supposed to do?" he asked.

"Quit," said Matt. "That's what they want me to do."

"We should complain," Foggy said. "They're not giving you a proper chance."

"And they're giving you one?" Matt said. "They made you run in place for twice as long as everyone else tonight, Foggy. And you're the only one they made swallow raw beans and egg until you puked again. They want you to quit too, you know."

"No," said Foggy. "I don't believe that. We'll get through this, Matt. And in the end, they'll clap us on the back and accept us and call us brothers. And it will all have been worth it."

"What if they don't?" Matt asked. "What if we do all this and they still reject us, Foggy?"

"They won't," Foggy said.

"Foggy..." Matt said, a gentle warning in his voice.

"No!" Foggy said. "They won't, Matt. They can't. I have to do this. I need this. So whatever they want me to do, I'll do. It doesn't matter. I'll convince them."

"Even if it kills you?" Matt asked. "Is it really that important to you?"

Foggy was quiet for a moment, and Matt knew that he was thinking.

"Do you know what my dad said when I told him I was intending on pledging?" Foggy finally asked. "He asked me if I really thought it was a good idea. Told me that he didn't think I would be a good fit for a fraternity."

"He thought you wouldn't get in?" Matt asked. "That you wouldn't be able to handle pledging?"

"Worse than that," Foggy said. "He didn't think I was good enough. I could tell. He's always underestimated me. I know that he thinks I'm too soft, too sensitive. When I was eight he made me see a psychiatrist because he was worried that I wasn't making the right kinds of friends. In high school, when I told him I'd asked a girl to the prom and she said yes, he sighed in relief. I think he was worried I was gay or that nobody would want to go with me. And when he saw my date I could still tell how disappointed he was that she wasn't as pretty as he'd hoped."

"So you think being a Beta will make him proud of you?" Matt asked.

"No," said Foggy. "I know it will make me proud of me. My dad's not wrong, he's just telling the truth. Being a Beta will prove that I'm capable of being someone people like."

"I like you, Foggy," Matt said.

"No, you don't," Foggy told him, and Matt winced at that. Was that what Foggy thought?

"I do," Matt said.

"Don't lie to me," Foggy said. "I'm not a complete idiot, Matt. You don't think I see the way the smile leaves your face when you hear me coming? The way that you're constantly making excuses to leave the room when I get back from class? You sleep with industrial-strength headphones and a surgical mask on, for crying out loud! The first day you met me, you started calling me Foggy. You know my name is Franklin, right? At least the Betas have the decency to know that it's an insult to call me Puke. You just think your nickname is so funny that it doesn't hurt."

"I didn't..." Matt stammered, suddenly realizing how selfish he had been for months, thinking that he was the one stuck with Foggy without realizing that Foggy was also stuck with him. "I didn't know you felt that way."

"It's fine," Foggy said. But it wasn't. "I get it. There's just something about me that makes people want to pick on me. That's why I need the Betas. I don't want to be that guy anymore. I want to learn what it is I'm doing wrong, be around people who are willing to teach me what to do so that this doesn't keep happening. This is my only chance."

"No," Matt said sadly. "It isn't. They're not going to accept you, Foggy."

"You don't know that," Foggy told him.

"I do," Matt said. "I overheard them talking at the rush party. They joked about putting you through all this and rejecting you for fun. They called you fat and called me a cripple. The truth is that I only pledged to try and protect you, to try and keep you from having to go through this alone."

Matt heard Foggy choke back a sob. "You're still lying," came the response.

"I know what I heard, Foggy," Matt said, and Foggy interrupted him.

"I believe that you heard it. But I don't believe for a second that you pledged and put yourself through all this for me. You pledged for the same reason I did, your own pride."

"That's not-" Matt tried to explain, but Foggy cut him off again.

"You've put yourself through all the same humiliating stuff that I have. How dare you judge me for not quitting when you won't either!" Foggy said. "Even knowing this whole time that they were going to reject you anyway, you still did everything they asked, which is worse, really. What, did you think that you could humiliate them in return somehow?"

"I-" Matt again stammered.

"No!" Foggy said. "This has all just been a big joke to you. I've been a joke to you, just like I always am."

Foggy got up and began pulling his blankets off of the bed.

"Where are you going?" asked Matt.

"To sleep somewhere else," Foggy said. "You win."

And he left.

* * *

Foggy marched across campus with his blankets tossed over his shoulder and a pillow in his hand, intending to see if the library was open for studying and then crash in the common room after it closed.

On his way there, he passed by the Beta house. He was disappointed to see Jessica flirting with Tom on the porch, even letting him lean in and kiss her goodnight before she left.

He didn't know why he was so surprised.


	5. Brotherhood

The next day, Foggy was exhausted. The common room couch was murder on his back, and he knew he still stank of beans even after a third shower. In class, the other students snickered when they saw his shaven head and that he continued to wear the Betas' collar.

Matt didn't look any better, at least. Foggy took in his equally shaven head and the sadness written on his expression from where he sat across the room. At one point, Matt's ear perked and his head tilted. It was almost like he was registering Foggy's presence and how far he was sitting from his usual spot nearby.

Foggy ignored him, expecting to see him at the fraternity house later that evening.

* * *

Matt wasn't at the fraternity house.

"Magoo decided that he didn't have what it takes to be a Beta," Tom told the pledges as they bent down in their usual positions on the basement floor. "What do you all have to say to that?" The group booed.

"It's too bad that he decided to leave, though," Tom continued. "because tonight is the first night that we welcome you pathetic losers to the real party!"

They were all instructed to stand and led upstairs. There, an enormous selection of alcohol sat out on the coffee table, along with funnels, red solo cups, and other signs that their night was about to get interesting.

"If you wanna be a Beta, we need to make sure you can keep up with us. So tonight, we're gonna play some games."

The games were really just excuses to feed all of them shots until they could barely stand. Soon, they were crawling on all fours and falling over when the brothers kicked them in the ass, being made to strip their clothes off again and told to bark like dogs, or moo like cows.

It would have been embarrassing for them if they weren't all so drunk that they were beyond being able to feel anything.

Foggy was picked on the most, because it was very obvious to the brothers that he was the most willing.

"Hey, why don't you jiggle your fat for us? Show off that body!" They yelled. And so Foggy did.

Some of the other pledges were passed out. A couple were crying.

"Hey, Puke's still going!" one of the brothers yelled.

"Man, he really wants to be a Beta, don't you Puke?" Vince said, kicking Foggy, who was so out of it that he fell forward fast first into the carpet in a puddle of spilled beer and stayed there. "You know, this has gotten sad, Tom. Maybe we should end this and let him know he's not wanted."

"You know," said Tom, "I bet even if we took him out like the trash he'd just come back. What do you say we find out?"

* * *

Matt was walking back from the library after a quiet night studying when he sensed three fraternity brothers approach him.

"Hey, Murdock!" one of them yelled.

"Not Magoo?" Matt asked, his expression angry.

"Nah, man," came the reply. Matt knew that the voice belonged to an older student named Greg. "We're sorry about all that. Tom and Vince just take it too far sometimes. We were really upset to hear that you bailed out."

"Seriously?" Matt asked. "You could have fooled me."

"Look, we told them it wasn't cool to pick on you so much," Greg said. "It's not your fault you're blind. Plus, you ended up being pretty cool. We probably would've voted you in."

"Well, it's your loss, I guess," he told them. "What are you doing here?"

The men's hearts raced. They were all nervous and scared, and Matt felt a sense of dread build. "It's Foggy, isn't it?"

"Nelson?" Greg asked to clarify. "Yeah. Listen, we didn't mean for things to get this out of hand. And Joey remembered that the two of you were roommates so we thought you could help..."

"What happened?" Matt asked.

"It was Tom's idea, I swear," the other man who Matt assumed was Joey said. "None of us were even paying attention really."

"What did he do?" Matt asked again, urgency leading to bluntness.

"They drove off with him in Vince's car. He was really hammered, and so were they," Greg said. "They said they were going to dump him somewhere and see if he could find his way back. Man, they were swerving as they pulled out. They're gonna kill someone!"

Matt sniffed the air. "Are either of you sober?" he asked, smelling rum and vodka on them.

"I am," Joey said. "I was supposed to watch over everything and make sure things didn't get too crazy."

"Well, good job," said Matt sharply. "Do you drive?"

"He just nodded," said Greg.

"Lead the way, then," Matt said.

* * *

Once in the car, Greg and Joey seemed to suddenly realize that they had no idea what the plan was. "Where are we going? We don't know where they went."

"Take a left up here," Matt told Joey, not caring if it seemed odd. He was listening intently for any sign of drunken frat boys and heard shouting a couple of blocks away that could be them. "Trust me," he told them.

Soon, Matt could hear sirens and the sounds of gasoline dripping, and smell burnt rubber. "Oh, shit!" said Greg. "That's them. Oh, man. They totaled the car."

They stopped and got out, with Greg and Joey being intercepted by the police at the scene. Tom and Vince were fine, but Vince was being hauled away for drunk driving, and Tom was being questioned. "Where's Foggy?" asked Matt.

"Was there a third person with you, young man?" a police officer asked Tom upon hearing Matt's question. "No, sir," came the reply from Tom.

"You asshole," said Matt. "Where did you leave him?" The police tried to hold him back, but he broke free and ran down the road instead, stopping to listen intently again. They must have left him somewhere nearby.

He focused his senses and tried to remember some sound that Foggy made regularly that might be familiar to him by now. What did Foggy's heartbeat sound like? Why hadn't Matt ever paid more attention?

Then, like a shining beacon of hope, Matt heard a sound that had never been more grateful for.

"Snnzzkkzzkk..." Matt heard, and it sounded like a buzzsaw. Like a foghorn. Foggy was snoring. It was beautiful.

He ran towards it as fast as he could, ran full city blocks without slowing down, and finally found Foggy, naked and face down in a pile of his puke, laying in a children's park next to the swing set.

Even if he wasn't dead, if Matt hadn't found him he most certainly would have been arrested for public indecency and placed on a sex offender registry the next day.

He took off his jacket and put it around Foggy, rolling him carefully over and out of the mess of his own sick, and called 911.

* * *

"Matt?" Foggy asked, hours later from his hospital bed.

"Yeah, buddy?" Matt responded, sitting up straight in his chair and leaning over to grab Foggy's hand.

"What happened?" Foggy wondered, confused.

"Alcohol poisoning," Matt said. "And exposure. Tom and Vince drove you out and dumped you miles away from campus in a park."

"Oh," Foggy said. "Am I in trouble?"

"No," Matt said. "It was obvious that you were too drunk to know what was going on and some of the other brothers told the cops that you were pretty much passed out before they even got you in the car. The frat is in trouble, though. They booked Vince on a DUI and public endangerment charge because he crashed the car after they dumped you."

"I'm sorry," Foggy said, and started to cry. "I should have listened to you. You were right. They didn't want me. And I could have really screwed everything up."

"No," Matt said. "It's my fault. You were right. I didn't take the frat seriously. Or you seriously. And I should have."

"I am a joke," Foggy said.

"No," Matt said. "You're not. You wanted to prove yourself, wanted a friend. And I treated you terribly."

"You didn't..." Foggy tried to say.

"I did," Matt said. "And I just hope that I've done enough to prove myself to you, Franklin," he continued, emphasizing his use of the name. "To somehow convince you that I'm worthy of being your brother. Because I'd like to be, frat or no frat."

"Yeah?" Foggy asked.

"Yes," Matt said.

Foggy grinned. "Sure thing, Matty. Just one thing though?"

"Whatever you need," Matt said.

"Could you keep calling me Foggy? I've always hated Franklin anyway and wanted a nickname. And since my options are that or Puke? Well, I like yours better."

Matt laughed. "Yeah, I think I can do that."

* * *

Matt stayed with Foggy until the next day when he was released from the hospital. On their way back to their room, they were surprised to see newspaper reporters and school officials assembled on the lawn of the Beta house.

"What's going on?" Foggy asked.

Matt smiled to himself "Let's find out."

It turned out that the Dean was giving a speech about the many ways in which the Betas had embarrassed themselves and the school publicly.

"Drunken driving," the Dean said. "Underage drinking. Violent and unacceptable hazing practices. Breaking and entering. And sexual harassment. These are not the things that we want to be associated with Greek life on the Columbia College campus. And so we are suspending the activities of Beta Kappa Epsilon pending an investigation. And the two highest ranking members of the fraternity who are associated with these shameful acts, Tom Avery and Vince Albertson, are being expelled."

"Wait, what?" Foggy asked. "The others I get, but sexual harassment?"

"As it turns out, sending a picture of your dick to the Dean's daughter could really scar her emotionally," said a voice from behind them, and Foggy turned around to see Jessica leaning against a tree watching the proceedings.

"Sending a picture of... what?" Foggy asked.

"What can I say?" she explained. "I told you I'm not that innocent, and I also wasn't going to sit back and let a bunch of assholes think they could do something like that to me."

"You seduced him?" Foggy said, surprised.

"It was Matt's idea, actually. A good one, too. It was fun!" she said.

Foggy looked over at Matt and smiled. "Really?" he asked. Matt just shrugged and grinned back.

"I saw you on the Beta's porch the other night," Foggy said. "I thought..."

"You thought wrong," Jessica said. "I would never be interested in a guy like Tom. You, though..." She leaned in towards him and Foggy backed up and sputtered a bit. "Feel free to return my panties to me anytime."

She walked away.

"What was that you were saying a while ago about meeting your future wife at college?" Matt asked. And Foggy shoved him playfully, blushing as they continued back to their room together.


End file.
